USA > Colorado > History of Colorado; Volume I > Part 93
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THE COLORADO STATE HOSPITAL
The second institution established in the state was the State Insane Asylum at Pueblo. The General Assembly approved the act establishing the institution February 8, 1879. Up to that time, and even up to recent years, the counties were compelled to house their insane in jails and private hospitals. A few were pro- vided for outside the state. The larger cities of the state, particularly Denver, have been in continuous dispute over the housing of the insane. This is largely, however, due to the lack of room in the asylum at Pueblo, which is only now reaching a point at which its capacity covers the demand for space.
.In 1879 a farm of forty acres, including the residence of former United States Senator George M. Chilcott, was purchased for $22,308.80. The first ap- propriation was $8,000, and this with the one-fifth mill tax, which has always been its chief source of revenue, made it possible to open the institution October 23, 1879, using the old Chilcott residence for housing the twelve patients who had been boarded by the state at the Jacksonville, Ill., hospital.
In 1881 the Legislature voted a fund for a new building, and for the purchase of forty acres adjoining the old Chilcott property. This was completed in 1883, and in 1887 the west wing was partially constructed and the building for women was begun. The demand for space from all sections of a fast-growing state made new construction necessary every year. In 1898-99 additional capacity was found by removing abandoned stairways, rearranging storage rooms, and by utilizing unused dining rooms in the women's building. In that year the new cottage for men was completed. The growth of the institution from 1879 to 1900 is best shown by figures :
Admitted
Males
Females
Cost of Buildings
1879-1880
55
19
$22,308.80
1881-1882
71
21
60,911.21
1883-1884
56
40
83,146.90
1885-1886
143
22
25.718.00
1887-1888
152
55
53,643.61
1889-1890
198
72
46,248.69
1891-1892
158
66
60,000.00
1893-1894
198
106
21,210.00
1895-1896
2.43
38
40,818.57
1897-1898
200
29
18,726.44
1899-1900
225
92
19,467.92
In 1904 two additional cottages, costing $98,000, accommodated 200 men pa- tients.
In 1908 the cottage for 100 women cost $50,000.
In 1909-10 three cottages, costing $150,000, provided for 200 men and 100 women.
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
In 1915-16 the building expense was approximately $100,000, and 200 addi- tional patients were provided for.
In 1900 the property of the institution consisted of eighty acres of land, one hundred shares in the Pueblo ditch, cultivating twenty acres, with twenty acres available under a new water right; three buildings with wings valued at $340,- 000; furnishings, etc., bringing total value of property up to $468,700.
In the report for 1900 the following paragraph gives some conception of the need for immediate increase in capacity : "By a wise administration of the parole law available space for hospital treatment has been found as occasion arises, yet there remain outside the hospital fully two hundred patients rightfully entitled to care and treatment by the state. These are at the present time being cared for in the county hospital at Denver, at Dr. Hubert Work's private sanitarium in Pueblo, and a very small number temporarily confined in county jails and court- houses .. It is safe to estimate that the state will, within the next two years, be required to arrange to accommodate 600 patients."
The new lunacy law passed at the suggestion of the State Board of Charities in 1899 provided for a new lunacy commission. Dr. P. R. Thombs, who had been superintendent from 1879 to 1899, retired, and Dr. A. P. Busey, for twenty years engaged in hospital work at St. Joseph, Missouri, was engaged to take his place. Later Dr. Anna Williams was appointed physician in the women's department.
By the end of 1904 there were 737 patients as compared with 503 at the be- ginning of the biennial period. The completion of two cottages and one wing to the women's building made room for 300 additional patients who had been await- ing admission for more than two years.
By the end of 1906 there were in the hospital 787 patients. On November 30, 1908, this had increased to 902, 525 men and 377 women. The new cottage for women opened August 12, 1908, was filled at once. By November 30, 1910, the patients numbered 1,131, and the need of additional buildings was impera- tive. By the end of this biennial period three additional cottages had been erected, accommodating 300, 200 men and 100 women. Eighty-eight lots adjoining the hospital grounds were purchased, and for the first time, in the report for 1911-12 the General Assembly was asked to change the name of the institution to "State Hospital."
The law passed in 1893 provided that "all new or additional buildings erected upon the asylum grounds must be of modern size and on the cottage plan; each building to be designed to accommodate not less than fifty and not more than one hundred." This provision has been carefully carried out.
On December 31, 1912, Dr. A. P. Busey resigned to take charge of the State Home and Training School for Mental Defectives, and was succeeded by the present superintendent, Dr. H. A. La Moure, who had for some years been Doctor Busey's assistant.
The General Assemblies of 1911 and 1913 failed to provide for additional housing facilities and the result was the citation of the superintendent on the charge of contempt of court, for refusing to receive Denver patients. This case was eventually dismissed.
The number of patients in the institution June 30, 1916, was 1,189, which provided for nearly all of those on the waiting list.
The General Assembly in 1917 changed its name from Colorado Insane Asy-
823
HISTORY OF COLORADO
lum to Colorado State Hospital, and provided a two-tenths of a mill levy for its maintenance. The State Board of Corrections now supervises the operation of the institution in place of the former Board of Lunacy Commissioners. The last board consisted of A. T. Stewart, of Pueblo, president; Dr. Louis Hough, of Denver, secretary ; W. E. Furrow, of Pagosa Springs.
THE COLORADO SCHOOL FOR THE DEAF AND THE BLIND
The Colorado School for the Deaf, to which was subsequently added a de- partment for the blind, was organized in the territorial days during the early months of 1874.
The founder of the school, Jonathan Kennedy, came to Colorado from Kan- sas in January, 1874, and located with his family in Denver in the following month. He had been for several years steward of the Kansas School for the Deaf at Olathe, where three children of his own were pupils and he was there- fore in a position not only to realize the great need of a special school for the deaf, but also to bring an ample fund of experience and an intimate knowledge of the character and necessities of such a school into the field when it came to securing friends and convincing the uninformed and skeptical that such a school could and should be established.
The first person whose sympathies he enlisted in the cause was Dr. Richard G. Buckingham, one of the most prominent citizens and a leading physician of Denver and a member of the Territorial Legislature. Governor McCook of the territory was also won over, and the leading members of the Legislature, the tenth, then in session, were soon convinced of the humanity and practicability of the scheme. Mr. Kennedy exhibiting the attainments of his own children who had had several years instruction at the Kansas school, and the striking and painful contrast shown in the mental darkness and helplessness of two or three uneducated deaf children whom he also presented before the Legislature. Under such favorable auspices the work was easy. Hardly a voice was heard in op- position when the bill creating the school under the title of the "Colorado Insti- tute for the Education of Mutes," with an appropriation of $5,000 and authoriz- ing a special tax of one-fifth of one mill to be levied annually for its support came up for discussion.
The bill provided for a Board of Trustees to consist of seven members, and the following gentlemen were appointed by the governor and duly qualified as prescribed by law : Dr. R. G. Buckingham of Denver, Matt France, J. S. Wolfe and A. Z. Sheldon of Colorado Springs, Wilbur F. Stone of Pueblo, James P. Maxwell of Boulder and Joseph A. Thatcher of Central City. The board thus constituted held a meeting on the 3d of March, 1874, at which all were present except Messrs. Maxwell and Thatcher, and organized by electing Doctor Buck- ingham president, Mr. Sheldon secretary and Mr. Wolfe treasurer. By-laws and regulations for the new school were proposed and adopted and Messrs. France, Wolfe and Sheldon appointed an executive committee. At a meeting of the board on the following day Mr. James P. Ralstin, a teacher of some ex- perience in the Kansas school, was elected principal, while for the positions of superintendent and matron the choice naturally fell upon J. R. Kennedy and his wife, Mrs. Mary E. Kennedy.
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
Colorado Springs had been fixed upon as the site for the new school, and at the first meeting of the board the Colorado Springs Land Company submitted an offer to donate a tract of ten acres of land forming a gentle eminence just east of the city, provided the buildings for the school should be erected thereon. It is hardly necessary to say that this generous offer was accepted. The same company about ten years later added three acres to its original grant, and again, in 1888, a strip of about one and a half acres along Pike's Peak Avenue. Further additions to the holdings of the school were made later through the generosity of Gen. W. J. Palmer, founder of the city and president of the land company alluded to, whereby ample room for the expansion of the school was rendered possible. A part of the land thus secured is now utilized in a large athletic field named in honor of the donor, Palmer Field, where football, baseball and other out-of-door sports are indulged in in season. The south half of the area is de- voted to experimental gardening. A number of cottages are located in the south- west corner and the income from renting these yields quite a respectable sum which is devoted to the use and benefit of the school library.
Meanwhile, pending the erection of suitable buildings on the original site, a frame house on Cucharas Street was secured, and on the 8th of April, 1874, the Colorado School for the Deaf was formally opened.
The school during the first week of its existence numbered seven pupils, though in the course of the year six more were added. The first names entered on the records are those of M. S. Kennedy, E. A. Kennedy and O. H. J. Ken- nedy, children of the superintendent, William and James Webb of Central City, John C. Simmons of Golden, and Mary E. Walker of Nevada, Gilpin County.
The frame building on Cucharas Street was occupied for nearly two years at a monthly rent of $50, but recognizing its total unfitness for the purposes of the school, and the necessity of taking steps to permanently secure the land donated by the Colorado Springs Company, the board at a meeting held April 7, 1875, empowered the executive committee to take steps toward the erection of a suitable building not to cost more than five thousand dollars, and instructed the committee to negotiate a loan of this amount. The main, or middle structure of the original building, now used as a dormitory, was the outcome. It is of white sandstone, with red sandstone trimmings, and is of substantial construction.
The school was removed to its new quarters with appropriate ceremonies and rejoicing early in 1876, and was thus able to hail the Centennial of the Republic and the admission of Colorado to the sisterhood of states securely housed and well equipped.
In 1879 the Legislature made a special appropriation of $5,500 for the erec- tion of the south wing of the original building and two years later another of $20,000 for the north wing, furnaces and other needed improvements. In 1883 a laundry and a barn built of stone were added to the list of buildings. In 1889 the Legislature appropriated $80,000 for a new school building, boiler house and annex to the main building. The Eighth Legislature, recognizing the pressing need for increased room, appropriated $31,500 for a girls' hall, hospital cottage and other improvements. An appropriation of $25,000 was made by the General Assembly of 1892 for an industrial building with the necessary power and ma- chinery, an electric light plant, a superintendent's cottage, a fully equipped bakery, books for the library and other additions and improvements required by the
825
HISTORY OF COLORADO
growth and necessities of the school. The present administration building, Argo Hall (the boys' dormitory), the remodeling of the industrial building erected in 1894, adapting it as a separate department for the younger pupils, with dormi- tories, school rooms, play rooms, etc., and the enlargement and remodeling of the boiler house providing adequate quarters under one roof for the various in- dustries of the school except that of domestic science, which is provided for in one of the frame cottages on the school grounds, summarizes the building pro- gram up to the spring of 1917. In the spring of last year ( 1917), contracts were let for remodeling thoroughly the girls' hall, bringing it up to date in every pos- sible way at a minimum of expense and an addition built at the south end pro- vides an excellent sleeping porch for fifteen of the girls, a beautiful sitting room for the older deaf girls and a bright sunny playroom for the younger ones.
All the buildings are heated by steam and lighted by electricity throughout, and the most improved and advanced labor and time-saving appliances and de- vices that characterize progressive institutions of the kind are employed. Of late years the grounds have had attention under the direction of a competent landscape architect, and a comprehensive plan for future development was adopted which will insure a sightly whole when carried out. The total value of buildings, grounds and furnishing is $480,000. This includes the ranch of 120 acres east of the city and the live-stock thereon.
During the first few months of the school the number of pupils was so small that the principal, Mr. Ralstin, required no assistance in the schoolroom. Less than a year after the opening the increase necessitated the employment of an assistant, and Oliver J. Kennedy, a son of the superintendent, was appointed in January, 1875. Industrial education in the school dates from this period. Printing was made a regular trade, with O. J. Kennedy as teacher, and a small paper, The Deaf Mute Index, was started, the first number being issued on the 3Ist of January, 1875. Since then the paper has been a regular feature of the school work and has proven a potent factor in bringing the school and its methods and ains to the notice of the public throughout the state. Incidentally the trade of printing has been of considerable value to the school in furnishing it at a minimum of cost a great amount of printed matter necessary in the various departments. The office is now well equipped with the necessary material and machinery, the latest addition thereto being the most improved model linotype.
Other industries were added from time to time, carpentry, joiner work and wood carving in 1883, baking in the fall of 1891, and chair-caning in 1888, mat- tress making and broom making in 1890, the last three trades being for the blind pupils. Sewing and dressmaking had been taught the girls ever since the school started and became a regular occupation with a salaried instructor late in the '70s. In 1890 a sewing class for the blind girls was started and has been continued as a regular feature of their instruction, supplemented by bead and fancy work.
Returning to the personnel of the officers after the organization, Mr. Ralstin continued at the head of the educational department for six years. He retired in 1880 and Mr. R. H. Kinney of Ohio, took his place. Mr. Kinney remained but one year, however, being succeeded by Mr. Robert P. McGregor, also of Ohio. An attempt was made during his term to introduce articulation and lip reading, and a teacher was employed, but circumstances of an unfavorable nature
826
HISTORY OF COLORADO
intervened and the attempt proved abortive. Mr. McGregor remained as princi- pal but one year, his successor being Pender W. Downing of Minnesota. By that time, 1882-3, the enrollment of pupils had reached forty-seven, and there were three assistant teachers. Mr. Downing retired at the close of the session of 1882-3; Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy, the superintendent and matron respectively since the organization of the school, also retiring at the same time. Mr. Ken- nedy's health had failed during the term, and he died in the following November.
The vacancies caused by the resignations of Mr. and Mrs. Kennedy and Mr. Downing were filled by the appointment in August, 1883, of Mr. and Mrs. George Failor, of Colorado Springs, as superintendent and matron respectively, and Mr. S. T. Walker of Illinois as principal. At the time of their appointment the board of trustees of the school, realizing that the previous troubles of the school were due to a lack of harmony and cooperation between the educational and domestic departments, demanded an agreement to certain conditions calculated to eliminate friction, and reserving to itself the supreme authority in both de- partments. The result was disastrous. Mr. Walker resigned three months after identifying himself with the school, while Mr. Failor was forced to retire in the following February, with the charge of attempting to kill one of the pupils hanging over his head.
After considerable difficulty and some delay the board of trustees secured the services of Mr. J. W. Blattner, a wideawake and energetic young teacher from the Iowa school at Council Bluffs, to take the principal's place, and Mrs. Anna O. Whitcomb, the articulation teacher appointed at the opening of the term, was appointed matron. She also assumed the duties of superintendent.
Mr. Blattner held the position but eleven months, resigning in November, 1884. He resigned on condition that the board should appoint as his successor Mr. D. C. Dudley, an experienced and capable teacher of the deaf from Ken- tucky, whose failing health forced him to seek the climate of Colorado to re- cuperate. He entered upon his duties as principal November 18, 1884.
Mr. Walker's brief administration was marked by the opening of the blind department. The Legislature had passed a law as early as 1877 admitting the blind to the school, but had failed to make proper provision for the increased ex- pense necessary, but in 1883 the resources of the state had increased to such an extent that it was decided to make the venture. Accordingly an experienced teacher was engaged, the necessary books and appliances purchased, and the de- partment formally opened with three pupils in attendance. They were Hugh Mc- Cabe, of Clear Creek County, Jennie Prout, of Jefferson County, and Roland Griffin, of Pueblo County.
At the same time the blind were admitted to the privileges of the school in 1877 the title of the school was changed to "Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind," by which it has since been known.
By this time it had become evident that a change in the law eliminating the "divided authority" feature of the original enactment was necessary to assure the future prosperity of the school, and its best friends proceeded to bring that de- sirable change about. A new law was carefully drafted and submitted to the General Assembly in January, 1885, by Senator Irving Howbert of Colorado Springs. It passed without difficulty, and with its enactment a new era dawned for the school. The law provided that the board of trustees should consist of
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HISTORY OF COLORADO
five members, whose terms of office should expire at different times, so that no more than two members could be appointed at any one time. It specified that the direct management of the school be vested in a superintendent experienced in the education of the deaf and blind and of demonstrated executive ability and other qualifications essential to inspire confidence as a man and as an educator in this special field. He was to nominate all of his subordinate officers, and was to be immune from removal except for cause.
The gentlemen to constitute the new board under the law were as follows: Daniel Hawks of Greeley, Henry Bowman of Idaho Springs, Henri R. Foster of Denver, Charles E. Noble and Andrew L. Lawton of Colorado Springs. The board organized in April, 1885, by the election of Mr. Foster as president, Mr. Lawton as secretary and Mr. Noble as treasurer. Mr. D. C. Dudley was elected superintendent of the school, and upon his recommendation all the officers and employes of the school at that time were retained with few exceptions.
Within a few short years, however, Mr. Dudley's health failed and he was compelled to relinquish his position and retire to recuperate. Fortunately there was a competent successor at hand to assume the work reluctantly laid down by Mr. Dudley, in the person of John E. Ray, who had been elected head teacher in the deaf department the year before. He had had years of experience in the North Carolina school for the deaf and the blind, and was therefore so well equipped that the board immediately elected him to succeed Mr. Dudley.
After a period of almost seven years as superintendent Mr. Ray resigned to become superintendent of the Kentucky school. This period was marked by an extraordinary expansion of the school in buildings, improvements, attendance and efficiency. It could hardly have been otherwise with so able and energetic a head. In the meantime Mr. Dudley, having in a measure regained his health, had been appointed head teacher in the school, and, upon Mr. Ray's retirement, again became superintendent. He continued in office until 1899, when ill-health once more forced him to relinquish the position, and his death occurred some months later. W. J. Argo, also from the Kentucky school, succeeded to the superintendency in March, 1899.
The nineteen years following this have been marked by an uninterrupted growth of the school and an increase in efficiency in every department. New buildings of the most modern design and construction have been erected when needed, remodeling of those already built along most approved lines whenever possible, has been done, provision for health-promoting outdoor recreation for the pupils made, a well stocked library for the use of both pupils and officers secured with funds for its care and maintenance assured. In fact every facility and appli- ance that makes for efficiency in an educational way has been provided for every department of the school.
The board of trustees of the Colorado School for the Deaf and the Blind, January 1, 1918, comprised : Joseph F. Humphrey, president, Colorado Springs; Dr. Hubert Work, of Pueblo; Mrs. Jane E. Pettepier, of Arvada; A. J. Lawton, treasurer, Colorado Springs; Charles J. Schrader, secretary, Limon. Dr. W. P. Argo is superintendent. Dr. B. P. Anderson is the physician in charge.
The enrollment for the session of 1914-15 was 200, 102 deaf and 98 blind; for 1915-16 the enrollment was 209, 165 deaf and 44 blind.
828
HISTORY OF COLORADO
THE COLORADO SOLDIERS' AND SAILORS' HOME
In 1887 the General Assembly made it compulsory for county commissioners to defray the funeral expenses of indigent Union soldiers, sailors or mariners, stipulating that "the expense of such burial shall not exceed the sum of $50."
This legislative enactment, however, called attention to the need of providing for the living and indigent Union soldiers as well as for those who died too poor to provide for burial.
Finally, on March 15, 1889, the act establishing a Soldiers' and Sailors' Home was approved. This gave the governor power to appoint a commission of six men "to establish and maintain at some convenient point in the San Luis Park, in the State of Colorado, a Soldiers and Sailors' Home for the care and treat- ment of honorably discharged soldiers, sailors and mariners, who served in the Union armies between the 12th day of April, 1861, and the 9th day of April, 1865, and those dependent upon them, who have been bona fide residents of this state at least one year prior to application."
The first appropriation was $40,000, and the home was located three miles east of Monte Vista on land donated by citizens of that town. This was an eighty acre tract used for farming, and forty acres upon which the buildings were erected. This latter portion includes a lake and a ten acre garden tract. The first structures were opened October 1, 1891.
By 1900 the commander's residence had been erected, following the con- struction of the main building two stories in height with two one story wings. In addition there had been erected a commissary building, a hospital, a power house, kitchen and dining room, all of stone, and a frame assembly hall. One hundred acres of the donated tract were by 1900 all under cultivation.
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